Gigabit HI

Hawaii, home to nearly 1.3 million
people, is the most isolated island chain on earth. Our state's
unique geographic isolation presents special challenges in keeping
our families, communities and businesses connected across our
islands and to the outside world. The speed and quality of our
connection to the net directly impacts our ability to communicate,
educate, learn and conduct business. Despite the fact we are
arguably the most dependent on connectivity, we rank 48th in the
union in terms of average connection speed. A gigabit network in
Hawaii would enable applications of particular importance to our
state including telemedicine, distance learning (see http://hvln.k12.hi.us) and early
warning / disaster management systems for tsunamis and hurricanes.
We are the also the site of many “big science” projects for the US
including the country’s largest telescope projects. These
instruments generate terabytes of data daily that could be utilized
by research institutions around the world.

1. Hawaii is the most isolated and import-dependent state in the
union. As such, it's imperative that its economic drivers shift
from tourism and the military to the sale and export of
locally-produced goods, content and intellectual capital.
High-speed networking can help achieve this vision of
sustainability per our state mandate (i.e. Lingle's Innovation
Initiative.)

2. Hawaii represents a huge telemedicine testbed
opportunity. Hawaii is the first state to offer online
physician visits statewide. HMSA members (54% of the population)
have access to online visits from their doctors. Kaiser was the
first in the nation to operate mobile mammogram service in remote
areas. Mammograms are transmitted in real time to physicians who
can make a determination on the spot for follow up care.
Availability of a high speed connection will allow Kaiser and HMSA
to continue their innovation in this and other areas of
telemedicine. HD video streaming is required for effective remote
diagnostic and tele-surgery applications. This is obviously of
particular importance to us given the fact our population is spread
across the most remote island chain on earth.

3. Hawaii's speeds are among the worst in the nation.
According to 2009 CWA report on Internet speeds and http://www.speedmatters.org,
Hawaii ranks 48th of all states in terms of average download
speed.

4. Hawaii's geography has always been a driver for cutting-edge
high-speed networking. It's why the influential ALOHAnet, the
predecessor to Ethernet, was invented in our state. There are
thousands of families and communities scattered across the Hawaiian
islands. Fiber would provide incredible opportunities for them to
stay connected and participate in shared cultural events and
educational opportunities. Workers providing net-based customer
support from home can provide services spanning Japan to New York
within regular local work hours.

We were also leaders in spreading the internet to Asia. The
University of Hawaii implemented the first IP connections to Japan,
Korea, Australia and New Zealand working with academic colleagues
in those countries.

5. Hawaii is one of the most culturally diverse states with
Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders comprising over
half of the population. Over 22% of its citizens speak a
language other than English at home, which presents an opportunity
for real-time translation services and high-bandwidth experiences
(such as streaming video with multiple language tracks) that enable
cross-cultural communication and community building.

6. Google has offices in 17 states, but has no Hawaii presence.
Why not? As mentioned above, Hawaii could be a great testbed
for Google Health (http://health.google.com). Our state
is the perfect place for software engineers to escape the colder
weather of mainland winters, and it's certainly one of the most
inspiring places on earth.

The only drawback to our proposal is that Google's infrastructure
team will be forced to visit Hawaii frequently and endure our white
sand beaches, pristine rainforests, breaching whales, awe-inspiring
volcanoes and the prevalent spirit of aloha. :-)

MEDIA RELEASE

COMMUNITY RALLIES TO GET HAWAII IN
THE RUNNING FOR VISIONARY GOOGLE PROJECTIslands Would Make Ideal Location For Google's Ultra-Fast
Broadband Project

HONOLULU: FEBRUARY 26, 2010 – A community-based appeal for Google
to make Hawaii one of the test locales for its recently announced
ultra-fast broadband service is being organized through an online
petition. Called Gigabit Hawaii, the initiative seeks to get tens
of thousands of residents to add their support on the Gigabit Hawaii Facebook Page by a March 26
deadline when the petition of community based encouragement will be
transmitted to Google -- which will be making initial selections
after March 26th.

Local government has already made an official request but Google
had stated that "a level of community support" would be one of the
factors. The Gigabit Hawaii initiative hopes to help make the point
by providing an easy way for the general public to participate with
a quick online signing. People are asked to network the petition
address to family and friends and through organizations.

Several leading members of the local high tech community drafted a
multi point support document and formatted the petition. Olin Lagon
of Kanu Hawaii stated his support; "Unlike most parts of the U.S.,
our own residents are separated by ocean. Enabling gigabit
broadband directly into our communities could have a profound
impact on better connecting our neighborhoods and islands as well
as invigorating our challenged public educational system."

Reflecting on the economy, Dan Leuck of TechHui and Ikayzo said,
"Being on the most isolated island chain on earth, the speed and
quality of our connection to the net directly impacts our ability
to communicate, learn, educate and conduct business. Google's
gigabit broadband initiative could help reinvigorate communities
and businesses in an economic downturn."

Kevin Hughes of Sprout said, "Hundreds of millions of people use
and rely on Google's network-based applications as part of their
daily lives. Let's show them that Hawaii residents want and deserve
the kind of network infrastructure with the speed, efficiency, and
reliability that their products are known for. Their presence will
encourage innovation, spur competition, and lay the groundwork for
an economy driven by the production of intellectual capital rather
than the scarcity of natural resources."

If Google selects Hawai`i, residents and visitors could reap
benefits in a multitude of ways only limited by interest instead of
technologic shortcomings. The full text of the reasons to support
the initiative and petition are included below. In addition to
individuals signing the petition, organizations and media that help
network this opportunity can contact Dan Leuck and ask to be
included on the TechHui Gigabit Hawaii resource page as
sponsors.